Anyone Know About These Natural Remdies? Anyone tried them? Any stories, warnings, or advice? I am considering. Thanks! SOURCE: http://fowlfacts.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ffanswerstoquestions&action=display&thread=948 Good Plants for your Chickens Black wattle Provides good shade, protein rich seeds can tolerate high levels of manure, can grow quite large, and so keep pruned back Blackberry nightshade Used to fill semi-shady zones under the tree canopy. It is not particular to soil types, self-seeds readily, full of vitamin rich fruit Chickweed A low sprawling, cold tolerant herb that likes moisture and shade, and a poultry favourite Coast wattle Low growing sprawling wattle, fast growing, pod seeds are high in protein Comfrey Herb grows to 1.5m only known vegetable source of vitamin B12. Protein rich, helps cure digestive disorders, may die down over winter and re sprout in spring. Will grow rapidly with dressings of fresh poultry manure Fat hen Is a weed, grows to 1m. Can also be known as a herb, seeds are eaten as a good food source Feverfew It grows to 90cm and can be used like its relative pyrethrum, although its only half the strength. Can be made into an insect spray, will become frost hardy and grown easily, tolerating heat, poor soil, draft and weeds. The plant will re-seed readily Garlic It has many applications. Regular addition (weekly or monthly) of finely chopped garlic to food or water is a good worm preventative. It stimulates digestive organs, relieves catarrh, and regularises liver and gall bladder. Treats intestinal infections, bacteria, benefits blood circulation, and heart action. It is also an excellent disinfectant Ginger The root of the ginger is an appetiser and stimulant, helps relieve stomach problems as a hot ginger drink. Eases cold symptoms and promotes perspiration A piece of ginger purchased from the green grocer can be left to shoot and then planted in a sunny, frost-free position Gotu kola Also known as swamp pennywort, creeper for swampy places. Rejuvenating effects on the brain and body cells. By eating just two or three fresh leaves daily. A rich source of vitamins A, B, C, G, K magnesium, Asiatic and madecassic acids, plus the antibiotic asiaticoside. It also contains an oily bitter tasting; volatile liquid called vellarin, and tannic acid Kangaroo apple Short lived native bush. Birds relish the fruit. Tolerates a wide range of soil conditions, but prefers well drained, good screening plant and self seeds readily Dont plant too much, as it may tend to change the hormones of the birds, and strange things can happen, such as males sit on nests and stop fighting, females only have female chicks etc Lucerne Also called alfalfa, is a valuable source of green pick and protein, providing vitamins A, D, K, and E, plus riboflavin, pantothenic and nicotinic acid It is tough perennial, lasting several years, dried and chaffed Lucerne can be fed to birds Mirror bush A common shrub, summer seed good for poultry forage Nasturtium This is a herb, poultry like it. Richly medicinal, strongly antiseptic, a vermifuge (de-wormer) and appetiser (especially the seeds). Nasturtiums are also good for the nerves and depression, and it repels insect pests Neem tree All parts of the tree have medicinal and insecticidal properties. It doesnt kill insects, it repels them. Fast growing, even in poor soil and dry sites. It prefers a frost-free position. Grow Neem trees from seed Nettles Stinging nettles are excellent for poultry, even if your not a fan of them. It is highly recommended that you grown some in a small area of your garden where your birds can peck at it They are high in chlorophyll, iron, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, calcium, sulphur, silica, protein and vitamins A, C and D. and are also a preventative against worms and contagion A combination of powdered seaweed, comfrey and nettles is a powerful laying stimulant that, can start even non-layers laying When cut and withered, nettles lose the formic acid, which gives them their sting Dry and powder them finely, and add them to food (this is good for humans too) You can boil them for a few minutes to remove the sting and add them to cereal mash Nettles boiled in Whey are fed to combat worms in poultry Great activator in the compost heap, good companion plant for other herbs, mints and tomatoes Quite an amazing plant Oats Can be made into a tonic drink. Just boil up as you would for barley water. The sprouts are full of vitamins and minerals and are much more digestible than raw whole oats To sprout them, soak in warm water for a few hours. Wet them briefly on a daily basis. If they are kept on a piece of shade cloth or an onion bag it makes them easy to dip in water. When they sprout, spread them out and let them soak up some sunshine Pigeon pea It is a legume; that lives for around 9 years and grows to about 3m high, in a frost-free environment A prolific seed bearer. Pods must be shaken or hit to make them drop, otherwise the parrots will eat the seeds. Direct seeding in spring is best. Choose a sunny well-drained location Pigweed It is an annual creeping herb. Eat the leaves raw or steamed. Seeds are good for the birds Rue It is a herb, that has both medicinal and insecticidal properties. It contains rutin, renowned for treating a host of diseases. Used on the skin to remove parasites. It is a good wormer and is highly antiseptic Apply rue as a brew or a powder of dried leaves throughout feathers for lice. The herb is most potent when used fresh Ever green shrub grows to 1 m high. Prefers alkaline soil and full sun Some people are allergic to the rue oil in the leaves, so always wear gloves when picking it, and propagate by seed or division Southernwood This is a powerful insect repellent and is used externally for lice in the form of a powder or brew rubbed through feathers. It is also a worm expeller, antiseptic and tonic. Medicinally, it is used for stomach problems and fever, for coughs, mucous congestion and bronchial catarrh. It is good to dry and strew on floors and is most powerful when leaves and flowers are picked just before opening. Fresh tops are used on weak brews As an evergreen, likes full sun and dry conditions. Plants can be divided or woody stem cuttings taken in late winter or early spring Stinking roger It is a weed, that grows to 3m high and smells strongly when brushed against. Their leaves are an irritant. Deters flies, lice and mosquitoes. Fowl will eat the leaves. It can also be hung or strewn around as an insect repellent Flowers and leaves (flowers are strongest) can be steeped in a pan of boiling water with the lid on and let stand until cold. The brew can be mixed 1:1 with pyrethrum solution to spray around the fowl house This annual plant can be established during any frost-free period. It grows easily from seed Tagasaste Provides fowl with shade shelter and perches, year round green fodder, medicinally flowers in springtime (a great bird tonic). It produces large quantities of summer seed, high in protein and carbohydrates Tansy Another strewing herb, is also a worming and medicinal herb. It has potassium rich leaves that are valuable in the compost heap as activators; it also repels mice, fleas and ants. It grows up to 120cm. Tends to stay green all winter, and spreads by means of rhizomes White cedar Also known as Indian lilac, Persian lilac and Pride of India/China White cedar closely related to the Neem tree, is used as a medicine or an insecticide. The leaves, flowers, root, bark or fruit are crushed and soaked in boiling water to cover. Leaves are insect and pest repellent, and are also used dried. The fruits are poisonous to pigs, sheep, goldfish and other species, but are devoured happily by rainforest pigeons and bats Wormwood Extremely bitter herb used internally for all worms and externally as an insecticide. An infusion of leaves is used as a wash for lice; leaves are placed in cupboards to eradicate moths in clothes. Wormwood is also an antiseptic, a stimulant, a nervine and mental restorer, a stomachic, and appetiser and a liver tonic However if too much is used internally it has the opposite effect and is poisonous Not all of these plants are good for cats or dogs, some even humans will find they are allergic to, so be careful about what you decide to include in your chook forest garden I would suggest you buy a book on gardening with information about these plants, you will need to buy a herb book also as some of the plants are only listed as herbs and not all gardening books have a full range of herbs in them These web sites would be a good starting point to see the plants would actually suit your region and temps http://www.all-natural.com/herbguid.htm http://www.library.uiuc.edu/vex/toxic/comlist.htm http://www.the-tree.org.uk/BritishTrees/TreeGallery/treegallery.htm All of the above sites will give you really good information about loads of plants of you want to check on them in the future, I have gone onto each site to have a look and liked what I saw Here is a web site that will list plants that are toxic to your animals--- http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/comlist.html
Quote:You have many great herbs listed. Many many herbs not listed!.. Try to find out which ones grow best locally for you.. Plant them all! Hunt for the native ones! .. IMO treat them as you would wild mushrooms, ALWAYS identify and read about from more than one source... I scared myself with Tansy, read how it is a wonderful detox body cleanser, tried some then read somewhere else about the horrible death you will die if you eat a tiny bit of Tansy... It is an interesting herb to research. It used to be the funeral flower, it was used to preserve bodies for burial......a great repellent. (It does attract bees when in flower..) Tansy grows wild all around our home.... It is the protector of our home... ON Oh yes Thyme is not on the list, chickens love Thyme and it is good for them too.
As I think to the Spring and all the wonderful things that I will plant, I loved looking at your list. I might try a few of these JUST for feeding to the chickens! Never actually thought about growing them certain things as a preventative--swear I learn something new every day from this website! Curious about some of the things like Nasturtiums that I can throw in a salad, feed as a worm preventative for the chickens, and make my yard pretty! Seriously not enough hours in the day for all the things that I need to investigate......
Some of those are pretty innocuous. Some are dangerous if used wrong. EG, Tansy is, iirc, bad for pregnant women. I would be somewhat nervous about having it in eggs for pregnant women. Nettles: that bit about how dried takes out the sting? Don't you believe it! I tried adding just a small bit of dried nettles to a spinach lentil soup once. Had to toss out the whole bunch! We all had sore throats afterwards. Probably would have been great for the chickens though... Just remember - Mother Nature is just as proficient at making poisons like BellaDonna as making healing herbs like garlic. DO your research and NEVER take just one book's word for it.
